


Something That Will Light Those Ears

by notbirdofprey



Category: The Owl House (Cartoon)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Amity Blight Has a Crush on Luz Noceda, Amity Blight Needs a Hug, Amity Blight/Luz Noceda Fluff, And their ears move, Bisexual Disaster Luz Noceda, Bisexual Luz Noceda, Bullying, F/F, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, Gay Disaster Amity Blight, Homophobia, Implied/Referenced Homophobia, Lesbian Amity Blight, Light Angst, Magic, No Smut, Oblivious Luz Noceda, Post-Grom (The Owl House), The Blights' A+ Parenting, The food fanfic girl shows up, Witches definitely pur, beware the giraffes!, probably going to add more tags, super sappy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-05
Updated: 2021-02-27
Packaged: 2021-03-10 05:42:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 15,176
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27899290
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/notbirdofprey/pseuds/notbirdofprey
Summary: Grom has come and gone, and Amity and Luz have a shared secret even they don't know about...and just as they begin to figure things out, they get interrupted by something no one could have reasonably expected. But while the Boiling Isles might have plenty in store, these two are up to the task...together.Title comes from the song Secrets by OneRepublic.
Relationships: Amity Blight/Luz Noceda, Minor or Background Relationship(s)
Comments: 22
Kudos: 254





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hi, this is the first chapter of the first fanfic I have ever posted. I hope you all enjoy (let me know if you do), and feel free to offer constructive criticism or advice.

Luz sprung up from her bed-nest on the floor. “Good morning!” she called out, to no response as she slipped out of her pajamas and into her Hexside uniform. Once she was dressed, she paused to smile and stroke each bright color, gleefully remembering how she had earned the right to wear such a uniform.

She glanced down at her phone, which rested on the windowsill. Then she turned away and rushed downstairs, taking them two at a time. Reaching the bottom, she slid along the carpet, the cloth turning slick beneath her feet in response to her desires.

The kitchen was empty, but Luz managed to fill it all by herself. She dove into the fridge, pulled out soy milk and eggs, snatched some powdered sneezeberry from above the stove, and mixed it all into a pinkish batter. She turned on the griddle and then turned her attention to lumity berries, which were incredibly sweet. She mushed a dozen and added some water and thickener, making a delicious approximation of maple syrup. When the griddle was hot enough, she poured the batter onto it, making a half dozen circles.

Eda and King stumbled down the stairs, both yawning exaggeratedly. Luz turned to them, smiling. “Hey guys, today’s a special day so I wanted to get up a little early and make a nice special breakfast!” she told them.

The two only moaned and murmured in response. Then, Eda mustered up enough energy to demand: “Apple blood, kid,”

Luz obeyed with a smile, handing Eda the mug. She then turned her attention back to the griddle, flipping the circles.

“It’s not quite right, and it will make you sneeze something awful, but these are pretty close to pancakes, and those are the best things ever,” Luz told them, before dipping a finger into the batter.

“Hmmm...it could use a little sin-ammon,” she said, leaning on the counter, knocking a pot of something off the shelf, barely catching it in time. She shook the sin-ammon into the batter.

What Luz said slowly began to percolate through her housemates’ brains as the apple blood gave them a shot of energy.

“Why’s it a special day?” Eda asked, wondering if this was a human thing or a Luz thing - she had learned the two did not necessarily overlap.

Luz hummed in response, her attention entirely on her cooking for a moment as she shifted about like a whirlwind, opening cabinets and drawers and slamming them shut, preparing the next piece of her breakfast and then the next, tasting a half-dozen things, bouncing between one bit of delicious cooking and the next. 

She cut plantains and fried them in oil while flipping the pancakes again, and then she was squeezing a dozen weird fruits to make a juice to flavor little pots of her improvised syrup with.

“Luz, what makes today so special?” Eda repeated.

“Yes, tell me, my loyal subject? Why are you preparing such a grand feast for your ruler?” King added.

Luz seemed to break free from her mania a little. She kept cooking though.

“Well, it’s been exactly two weeks since Grom. And Amity still hasn’t managed to ask out her crush.”

The witch and the demon exchanged glances, wondering if Luz had finally realized. The green-haired girl had been over at least a dozen times since the dance, turning into a stammering, blushing mess nearly anytime Luz so much had looked at her. Eda hadn’t felt the need to say anything, but she did have a bet with King. And it looked like she was about to win...

Luz let out a squeal of alarm. “Dios mio, mis plátanos!” she called out, diving towards the stove, rapidly turning the heat down before turning them over, eyes frantic.

“Ahh, good, they didn’t get burned too badly,” she declared, turning her attention back to the rest of the cooking.

After a minute, Eda prompted her. “Luz!”

“Right, sorry, like I said it’s been two weeks. And since she hasn’t worked up the courage...I thought I would help her. Detective Luz is on the case! I am going to find out who Amity’s crush is, and engineer some way for them to get together if I have to lock them in a room,” she said.

Eda smacked herself in the face. King snickered softly. “Guess you haven’t won your bet yet...”

As Luz spoke, she began to picture Amity smiling up at her crush, her golden eyes sparkling in that adorable way of hers, her shy little smile, her cheeks pink with delight. Luz thought of how she had looked at Grom, laughing so carefree before Luz went in, the way she dove in front of Luz to protect her, the warmth of her hands...Luz wanted to see her with her crush, she wanted it so badly it ached somewhere in her heart. Luz thought of how happy Amity would be to finally dance with her crush, with the one she really liked.

She pictured the scene. Amity would be wearing her Grom tiara, and her dress from that night, smiling so sweetly, approaching someone with her note...and then suddenly that someone was Luz.

The girl shook her head, focusing harder on her cooking. There was no way someone as amazing and brilliant as Amity would be interested in silly little Luz Noceda.

Some things were impossible, even in a world like the Boiling Isles.


	2. Chapter 2

Amity Blight woke up at precisely 6:00 am, her alarm clock shrieking like it was in agony. Her eyes opened, she sat up, and pressed the top. It subsided instantly. Her lips curled up in a soft little smile as the last remnant of her dream lingered inside her head. Then she realized what that dream had been about, and her cheeks turned bright pink before she shook her head. She was a Blight; she had no time for such things.

Instead, she slid out of the silken sheets and began to dress briskly, discarding pajamas that cost more than some people made in a week with barely a second thought, slipping into her Hexside uniform. Again, a smile ghosted across her face, for multiple reasons, some of which she chose not to examine. She liked attending school, she liked learning, even if her parents' demands that she stay top student and get only the most perfect grades were...stressful.

Then she began to brush her hair, wincing when it caught on the occasional tangle. It only took a minute or two. She took good care of her hair. It had always been the Blight trademark feature, so her mother would not approve if she was sloppy with it. Soon the green locks were tied up and back, the brown roots exposed in front. She preferred it when the roots grew out. It reminded her of when she had been a child, blissfully unaware of her responsibilities and only vaguely aware of her heritage.

She was downstairs before 6:15 am, her parents and siblings arriving at almost the same moment. Amity sat primly beside Edric, thankful that the gaze of her parents would be enough to keep the teasing at bay. A maid came out of the kitchen with several bowls of stoat-meal and a pitcher of gripe juice. She set it down on the table then retreated to the back of the room, pressing herself against the wall, effectively vanishing from sight.

Sometimes Amity wished she could do the same.

Her mother and father began to talk, asking sharp, probing questions, commenting on happenings at Hexside and elsewhere. Amity remained alert. If they found out about her befriending Willow again, or worse, Luz...

Somehow they had never noticed. They didn’t even know she had wanted to ask anyone to Grom. As she answered their questions, her mind drifted back to that enchanting night, the way Luz’s eyes had sparkled, her peculiar but adorable obsession with otters (what even were those, anyway? She would have to ask...), and the tiara safely locked away, a keepsake of that most wonderful night.

“So, I heard they let a human, of all things, into Hexside,” her mother said.

“Bump has gone soft,” her father added. 

While her mother’s voice was filled with the sort of loathing one heard when she spoke of rebels or traitors or giraffes, her father sounded merely contemptuous. Amity found herself holding her breath, ears twitching, praying Edric and Emira wouldn’t betray her, praying they didn’t find out...

“We don’t have any classes with her, Father,” Edric said.

“We believe she was placed into the Detention Track,” Emira added, continuing right where Edric left off just as they had been taught.

“And you, Amity?” her mother demanded. "What do you know of it?"

“Boscha told me she befriended Willow,” Amity said, coming as close to a lie as she dared before her mother’s glittering gold eyes, her hands beginning to sweat.

“Who’s Willow? I've heard the name before but I don’t recall where...”

“The Park girl, the one who tried to befriend our Amity,” her father answered.

Amity let out a silent sigh of relief as the topic of conversation turned. She ate as fast as she dared, lest it come back, and asked her parents’ leave once she was finished. As she was dismissed, she staggered over to the bathroom, suddenly nauseous. What if her parents found out about Luz? They would hurt her, Amity knew they would. Asking her to Grom was worse than reckless, it was selfish. And Amity was too weak to stop indulging in that.

She would keep basking in Luz’s light, enjoying her laugh and her smile and her relentless friendliness and her incredible kindness, and she would hope the faintest glimmer of her affection was returned...she realized she was thinking like one of those romantic poets her father had on his shelf but never read, and sighed in frustration.

When she came out, Edric and Emira were waiting for her in the foyer. They looked oddly serious. Even when they spoke with Mother and Father, the twins normally had a little smile.

“What is it?” Amity demanded, looking for her backpack. She was supposed to keep it downstairs when she went up to bed, but she couldn’t see it.

“We want to talk, Mittens, about you and...you know,” Emira said.

Amity started to pale. Her and the twins blackmailing each other was not uncommon, but this was worse than the time she held the Flutterby Incident over their heads.

“We are never going to tell Mother and Father. Never, no matter what. And if you need our help hiding it from us...” Edric trailed off.

Her mouth dropped open.

“What do you want in exchange?” Amity asked.

“Mittens, we wouldn’t do that to you,” Edric told her.

“We do reserve the right to tease you about it when we’re alone though...” added Emira.

“...and we might show sweet little Luz some sweet little baby photos of our adorable little sister,” finished Edric.

Amity growled, a fireball appearing in her hand.

“Just kidding bye have fun here’s your backpack,” they rattled off, and then they vanished and her books appeared in their place.

She caught the bag before it hit the floor, shouldered it, and headed off to school. It was early enough that she could take the scenic route and clear her head.

And maybe practice with her abomination a little. She needed to take every opportunity to do so.

She strode down the driveway. About halfway down, she was out of sight of the house. Amity cut off to the side, passing under the trees, and then she walked until she reached a side gate.

Slipping through, she found herself in the woods. An instant later, her abomination rose up. Concentrating, she carefully shaped the rough humanoid of purple slime into a more...customized figure.

She stepped back to admire her work, and felt her heart fluttering at even this pale imitation. Her cheeks burned red.

“H...he...h...Titan damn it!” she exclaimed.

Then she set off walking, the abomination matching her pace. She tried to greet it again and again, snarling with frustration as her face reddened and her ears swiveled. She was a Blight, she could do this, she would not be defeated.

By the time she had dismissed it and arrived at Hexside, class was nearly starting. She caught a glimpse of brown hair speeding past, making her heart skip a beat. That was the last she saw of Luz until just before lunch.

Then she made a total fool out of herself, and Luz ended up challenging Boscha to a Grudgby match...The brave, adorable idiot.


	3. Chapter 3

Amity

Amity was concentrating very hard on eating her lunch, devouring the meal her parents’ cook packed for her with steady focus on nothing but the next bite, ignoring the girl next to her as she excitedly gesticulated her plan for beating Boscha, trying desperately to conceal the way her stomach was flipping and churning with every smile she was given.

“I know you said you wouldn’t be able to play, Amity, but could you help us practice?”

She jerked up in shock and nearly fell, arms windmilling frantically. Then Luz’s arm was on her back. She could feel the warmth of it through her shirt. Her cheeks burned bright red.

“Woah, are you alright, I didn’t mean to startle you!” Luz exclaimed, turning to face her. 

Amity found herself getting even redder. 

“I’M FINE!” she half-squealed, half-shrieked, loud enough that Luz flinched a little, although her arm did not remove itself from Amity’s back.

“Titan help me, oh no I hurt her, oh Titan...” Amity’s mind was a haze of panic and concern and fear. What if she had scared Luz? What if she began to cry?

But instead Luz began to gently rub her back. “Is something wrong?” she asked, her brown eyes filled with concern, and if Amity used her imagination perhaps a little affection as well.

“No, I’m Amity...I mean, fine I’m...uh...good, I’m good, yeah!” Amity babbled, rendered incoherent.

“Stupid little girl, you should be better than this,” a voice inside her said.

But here and now, it had no power. She managed to smile, and Luz returned it. Amity managed to calm down just a little more, pulling herself into a more vertical position. Luz shrugged.  
“Alright then,” she said, and returned to talking about Grudgby.

Amity realized she had never actually answered Luz’s question. 

“I can Grudgby...err...I can help with that, with the practice,” Amity interrupted, mentally rearranging her schedule. 

Luz grinned and gave Amity a quick hug, her arms warm around Amity’s shoulders. Amity found herself melting, her muscles relaxing as her face and skin heated to almost unbearable levels. Her ears twitched almost frenziedly despite all her efforts to control them. 

Willow gave her a look, and despite Luz’s presence Amity’s fears overwhelmed her. She remembered the sick twist in her guts as her note was torn in two. “I have to go see you later sorry bye!” Amity squawked, and then she fled with what little dignity she could muster.

Luz

Luz watched Amity, concerned and more than a little nervous. Amity was acting strange...now that Luz thought about it, she had been every time they had seen each other. She said she was fine, but maybe she really was sick.

“Do witches get sick?” she asked Willow, who nodded absentmindedly.

“Maybe Amity should go to the nurse,” Luz said.

“If she’s feeling sick, she will,” Gus replied.

Luz could not argue with that. Maybe it had something to do with her crush. Luz had had some back on earth. She knew how awful it felt when they weren’t reciprocated. And the thought of brave, kind, beautiful Amity so terrified of her crush that it made her sick to her stomach was heart wrenching. Literally, Luz could physically feel her heart twisting in her chest.

She felt terrible. Her plan to find out Amity’s crush had gotten completely derailed, but it would have to wait until tomorrow. She had to help Willow now.

“So, I think we can practice enough that we will win, and we have a secret weapon. The thorn vault!” she exclaimed, her arms flying up. 

And with that plus an effort of will, she put Amity out of mind. They would see each other soon enough, and Amity would be there watching as Luz triumphed. She smiled. That was so good to think about.

Amity

She should be in pain. When Boscha tackled someone, they got tackled and they stayed tackled. Her leg was at least sprained, possibly broken. And being carried in someone’s arms was hardly the most comfortable experience. Except they were Luz’s arms, and Amity was simply soaking in the closeness. Her arms were around Luz! Her arms were around Luz!

If she died now, she would die happy. 

“Ok...the nurse’s office should be down this way,” Luz said confidently, turning down another of Hexside’s endless halls. Amity let her head loll back, studying Luz’s face, wanting to engrave every inch of it in her mind, keep her light brown skin and dark brown eyes and those adorable cowlicks. 

“Mmmm, right, nurses, for me...” Amity murmured absentmindedly.

It seems like she had gotten used to being so close to Luz. Her cheeks were merely pink instead of flaming red as she smiled. 

“Yeah...” Luz’s face fell for an instant.

“Luz?” Amity asked cautiously.

“I’m just sorry you got hurt.”

“Don’t be. I knew what I was doing, and I would have done it even if I knew this was what would happen,” Amity said, practically hissing. Titan forbid Luz blame herself for Amity’s mistake! “You have nothing to apologize for.”

Luz returned her smile, and then Amity’s leg twinged a little. She winced.

“But please get me to the nurse.”

“I am not just your brave champion but your noble steed,” Luz said dramatically, and Amity found herself wishing she could just pull herself up and kiss the amazing idiot.

But she didn’t.

The two of them were silent for the rest of the walk, but it was a comfortable, peaceful silence. Amity had never really experienced anything like it, not with Luz. Comfort, yes, but silence was rare around her. Amity closed her eyes until she felt herself being gently lowered onto a bed. She reluctantly let go of Luz.

She could hear the nurse talking, but that was unimportant. Luz casually took her hand. Titan’s bleeding heart, Luz was holding her hand.

“It’s definitely broken, she’ll need crutches, but I’ll put on a cast and some healing spells. It shouldn’t take more than a week to mend. You can keep holding your girlfriend’s hand while I do it...”

Luz practically jerked her hand away. Amity’s heart skipped a beat, and not in a good way.

“We’re not girlfriends,” Luz said.

Amity opened her eyes to see the nurse giving Luz an odd look with one set of eyes and Amity a sympathetic look with the other.

“Right, well you can keep holding your friend’s hand then,” he said.

Amity blushed again when Luz took her hand, sitting on the very edge of the bed. Her other hand began to run through Amity’s hair. Her ears started twitching again.

“So, I was planning on inviting Willow and Gus to the Owl House tonight, can you come? We can fry owls! I mean, we don’t normally, I don’t know what Hooty would think of that, but you suggested it, so maybe I could convince Eda- oh, you can wiggle your ears, that’s so cool, can I touch them?”

“I love owl frying! I go to the owl house, sure, yeah I’ll go to the, the Owl House to see you, because that’s where you live and we can...wait, what?” Amity sputtered and discreetly pinched herself. 

“Is this how Luz is asking me out?” she wondered.

The nurse interrupted before she could agree. “Miss Human, touching ears is normally something you would see between parents and kids, or girlfriends and boyfriends.”

Again Luz jerked away from her like she had been burned.

“I am so sorry Amity, I didn’t mean to...”

“It’s ok I don’t mind...”

The two spoke at once, then stopped to stare sheepishly at each other.

The nurse coughed. “You’re all fixed up. The cast will come off in a week on its own; please dispose of it away from small animals and children. Miss Blight, your mother will be here shortly.”

Amity shot Luz an apologetic look. Luz seemed to understand, and nodded, before leaving, tapping a brick and then vanishing through the wall. Amity watched her go, then steeled herself to withstand her mother. And deep behind the icy walls she was building up, the thought of seeing Luz again burned like the Titan’s Flame.

Luz

Luz cursed her own stupidity as she hurried through the halls. Amity had a crush on someone else, Luz should have known better...she was being too much again, and now she might have hurt one of her best friends. Luz would need to make it up to her...she would have to redouble her efforts.

She hurried off to find Willow and Gus. Maybe they would have an idea of who it was.

Later that night, the four of them (and King, although he was pretending not to) sat on Eda’s couch, watching some sort of movie (Luz wasn’t able to pay attention), Amity resting her legs on Luz’s lap. Her other friends had been of no help, so she simply turned to look at Amity. Maybe it was best to cut right to the chase.

The witchling watched the screen, her mouth closed like she was trying to stop herself from speaking, her eyes wide and filled with some sort of emotion Luz didn’t recognize. Her ears were still twitching. Luz had to grab her hand to prevent herself from reaching out and stroking them. They seemed even cuter now that she knew more about them. 

Amity turned to meet her gaze, and she looked like she was about to say something, but Luz’s stomach began to churn and she beat her to the punch.

“So, Amity, I want to help you ask out your crush, what’s their name?”

Amity’s mouth was half-open as she began to reply.


	4. Chapter 4

**Amity**

Amity’s mouth hung open. She shifted uncomfortably, closed her mouth, opened it again, and then held her head in her hands.

She wanted to tell Luz, to scream that it was her name on her Grom note, that she had tried to ask her out twice but hadn’t managed it, to shout that every time Luz touched her it made her heart pound and her stomach flip, that the thought of Luz leaving made her want to break down sobbing, that having her in her life had made it better in so many ways...

“Cramity, I didn’t actually mean to upset you!” Luz explained before Amity could actually say something. And when she did speak, it was barely intelligible.

“Whaaaaat, upset? Me, at you? No, I could never be upset at you I promise I’m not upset I’m just uhhh...”

“It’s ok, I can see how red you are, I was rude, I’m sorry,” Luz replied, shifting away from Amity.

The witchling wanted to cry. With effort, she swallowed her tears. Luz was already unhappy, and Amity didn’t want to make it worse.

She fiddled with her scroll for an instant, then looked up. “Hey, my parents just messaged me, they want me home like now...” 

Amity got up, grabbed her crutches, and hobbled to the door. She opened it, and then she saw boiling rain come down, splattering on the ground.

Ms. Owl Lady, who had been absent the entire night but somehow managed to show up at that exact moment, walked into the room.

“Well, that’s unfortunate, I am not letting you go out in that. Looks like you kids got yourself a sleepover.”

Before today, an opportunity to spend time with Luz and stay up late and talk about Azura and paint each other’s nails and all those other generic sleepover things that were intolerable with Boscha but amazing with Luz would have been a gift from the Titan. The same would have been true five minutes ago, but now...

“It’s okay Amity, I respect your privacy.”

Amity tried to explain, but all that came out was a murmured thank you.

There was an awkward silence, which Gus promptly broke.

“So, Luz, would you be willing to tell us more about human stuff?”

Willow punched him, but Luz and Amity both seized on the distraction.

“Always happy to help!” Luz chirped, plopping back down on the couch.

Amity took a deep breath, then decided to take a risk. She dropped down next to Luz.

Her heart caught in her throat when Luz turned to look at her, her warm eyes filled with such concern and relief...then she caught Willow looking at them and her face heated, but she couldn’t look away.

“Guys?” Gus asked, confused.

“Right...uh, right...”

**Luz**

Luz could barely think, let alone breathe. She was so worried she had upset Amity, and so desperately grateful she hadn’t pushed away such a wonderful, amazing, beautiful person...

_ Wait, beautiful, where did that... _ Gus interrupted her train of thought, and she shied away from examining it in greater detail.

“So...human stuff...well, there’s music.”

She took out her phone, opened the music app, and hit play. The familiar notes of “Little Miss Perfect” began to fill the air.

Amity cocked her head, turning to look very closely at the phone.

"I like it,” she said, and Luz watched her lips move as she spoke.

“I...I was writing a romance story before I came here, and it was the last thing I had on...”

The song came to the part that made her nervous.

“A pretty girl walks by my locker

My heart gives a flutter

But I don't dare utter a word

'Cause that would be absurd behavior

For Little Miss Perfect”

She hit skip.  _ This was a terrible idea! _

Her heart was pounding...the last time she had made friends...Amity and Willow and Gus were all better than that. They had to be. She told herself that again and again and again.

It didn’t help.

**Amity**

“I didn’t know...humans allowed that...” she said carefully, an absurd spark of hope filling her heart.

Even if that was true, the song was so clearly about Luz...who else could Little Miss Perfect be describing? 

And Luz seemed upset about it. Which made Amity want to smash the not-scroll, even though that was stupid. So she did nothing more than fold her hands in her lap and squeeze them together very tightly.

“I...they do," Luz explained. "Not everyone likes it though...but I’m actually bi, I like guys and girls...”

And just like that the spark was back, brighter than ever.

“I like guys...but Amity, don’t you like girls?” Willow asked.

Amity could feel her face turning bright red, it felt like her head was swelling. She managed to squeak something that sounded vaguely like a yes. Luz’s eyes were locked with hers, a faint blush appearing on her brown cheeks.

“I don’t really know who I like,” Gus said.

“Well, you’re young, it could just be that, or maybe you’re ace, if you don't like anyone. I wouldn’t worry about it,” Luz said, seemingly unable to stop looking at Amity.

Out of the corner of her eye, Amity saw Willow looking very smug, while Gus mostly seemed confused.

**Luz**

She made sure to switch playlists after that, to her morning songs, which were cheerful, upbeat, and only romantic in the loosest sense. She sat back, processing what had just happened, only speaking to answer Gus’s questions in as vague of terms as she could get away with.

She would clarify that no one had ever been eaten by an acoustic guitar later.

For now, she just needed to think. Firstly, about the fact that Amity was a lesbian.  _ Amity is a lesbian! I have a chance!  _

Part of her had been screaming in excitement nonstop since that reveal. 

First, Luz had to admit that yes, she clearly had a crush on Amity, and a very strong one. Then she carefully acknowledged that while unrequited crushes hurt, they were not the end of the world. She would move on, and in no way would she let this stop her from helping Amity find her crush, even if it would doubtless hurt to see Amity so happy without her.

She had upended Amity’s life; it was the least she could do.

Then, satisfied that she had established that, she decided to indulge herself and began to squee internally about how amazing and wonderful Amity was, about how she was brave and beautiful and so incredibly smart and had the secret soft sweet gooey core that made Luz think of tootsie roll pops...

**Amity**

She could not stop staring at Luz. Fortunately, the human had closed her eyes, presumably finding the music relaxing. It didn’t have that effect on Amity, but she didn’t really expect it to. 

Gus asked endless questions, Willow watched silently, and Amity simply drank in what was perhaps the most perfect sight she had ever seen. She almost wished she had joined the Artist Coven so she could immortalize the beautiful sight in magic ink. She briefly tallied the list of reasons why such a thing was impossible and put the thought out of mind.

She very much wished she had her ink and pens though, and she let that thought remain. She would add the drawing to her jewelry box if it was good enough.

Still, even if she could stay in this moment forever, she did find herself with some burning curiosity.

“So, you mentioned that you wrote?”

Luz’s eyes flew open, and Amity quickly looked away. 

“Uh, yeah, some original stuff, but mostly just fanfiction. I would get inspired by someone else’s stuff, and write an alternate universe version, or I would ship some characters together, I love rivals-to-lovers, or you know, I would...” she rambled, and lifted her fingers, wriggling them, “...just write stuff.”

Amity wondered how one person could be so adorable. She noticed Luz was blushing again...

“Rivals to lovers, huh?” Willow broke in again. 

Luz’s face turned even darker red. Amity was confident hers was purple. The two looked away, looked back, looked away again.

Amity’s heart was pounding, but fortunately, once more, Luz came to the rescue.

‘It’s late, we should sleep,” she declared.

Gus glanced out the window. “The sun is barely down...”

“It’s very late, I’m exhausted!” Amity agreed, yawning exaggeratedly. 

“Let’s get the bedrolls set up!”

As Amity lay in her bedroll, she thought about her and Luz. As usual, whenever she had such a daydream, she thought of all the reasons it was impossible. Her parents would never approve. The Emperor would forbid such a relationship. And Luz could never return her feelings, not when Amity was so cruel and cold and only the thought of that brave, beautiful maniac’s sadness prevented her from returning to that - the mere thought made her sick to her stomach.

But she didn’t push the thought away. She let it linger, warming her from her head to her toes. And then she thought about being in the Emperor's Coven, and somehow it just didn’t have the same luster as it once did.

**Luz**

Luz lay in her bedroll, thinking about how amazing Amity was, but knowing it was just a dream. Even if Amity wasn’t crushing on someone else, and it had to be an extremely intense crush given how scared she had been of being rejected, how could someone as amazing and intelligent and kind as Amity like her back?

**Willow**

As Willow lay on her back, she wondered what joke of the Titan it was that her two friends - and even if she hadn’t entirely forgiven Amity, she was that without a doubt - had an incredibly adorable crush on each other, but were so dense they completely missed it, despite her best efforts.

She sighed, twirled a finger, conjured up some thistletoe, and hoped that it might force the issue. Sure, it wasn’t the right season for another month, but that rarely stopped people.

And maybe it would get the two idiots to figure it out. 


	5. Chapter 5

**Luz**

Once more, Luz awoke, albeit with far less enthusiasm than usual. Her sleep had been troubled, her dreams more so, and she had a pounding headache. 

“Ay, me duele,” she murmured as an incautious movement made it hurt worse.

She didn’t bother getting dressed, sticking with pajamas and staggering down the stairs. Not for the first time, she thought about having coffee, but her Mamí had made her promise not to drink any until she was an adult, and Luz planned on keeping that promise.

So she made her way downstairs, glancing out the window to confirm that the boiling rain was gone and smiling. The warm sunlight seemed to chase away the pain, as did Amity.

_She’s wearing her hair down,_ Luz thought, stricken, swallowing hard.

She was suddenly aware of how messy her own hair was, how there were probably bags under her eyes, how she was wearing raggedy pajamas and Amity had gotten a deep green nightgown from somewhere.

“Tu eres hermosa...” she murmured.

Amity seemed to perk up at the sight of her. “Luz! It’s you! I mean, of course it’s you, it’s your house, you are here all the time...frying owls...yeah...”

_Be cool, Noceda_ , _”_ Luz told herself, before walking into the coffee table and banging her shin. She yelped and jumped back, reaching up to grab her bruised leg, slipping on one of King’s toys and falling hard on her butt.

“Oof!”

The pain was vicious, and her headache came roaring back with a vengeance. Luz grimaced. _That wasn’t cool._

Amity grabbed her crutches and hobbled over with shocking speed, her hair bouncing with every half-leaping stride. It made Luz want to run her fingers through it...she shook her head, grateful that the pain distracted her.

Amity dropped down beside her. “Let me see,” she ordered, gently but firmly grabbing Luz’s leg.

The touch of her fingers on Luz’s calf made her blush; she found herself incapable of resistance.

“You need healing...” Amity said softly, with so much concern that it made Luz’s stomach hurt.

The witch twirled her finger around Luz’s leg and in a flash of blue light the wound vanished.

“Thanks, Amity, I just was just looking, I mean I wasn’t looking, I wasn’t looking where I was going, heh heh,” Luz said, one hand going up to rub the back of her head sheepishly.

She noticed her headache was gone again.

“Yeah, um, problem, I mean no problem, because I’m always happy to help!” Amity said with a very broad grin.

Her hair was moving. As Luz watched, a pair of pointed ears poked up from the strands of green. Amity immediately clapped her hands over them.

“I! I mean, uh, not always because I’m not always going to drop everything to help you get out of whatever trouble your cute stupid face gets in, I mean...”

Luz inhaled sharply.

“You going soft on me, Blight?” she croaked.

“In your dreams, Noceda!” Amity shifted away, crossing her arms over her chest, trying so very hard to look stern.

“Amity thinks I’m cute! Amity thinks I’m cute!” Luz sang cheerfully.

King popped up from behind the couch.

“Everyone knew that, now hush, some of us are doing very important demonic things!”

Luz and Amity locked eyes, held each other’s gaze for a long instant, and then burst out in slightly hysterical giggles.

**Amity**

“What do you think he meant, that everyone knew that?” Amity asked, trying very, very hard to sound nonchalant.

She might have managed to fool Braxus. Maybe. If he was having a bad day.

“I have absolutely no idea!” Luz agreed, in the exact same tone.

_It must be so hard for her, pretending she doesn’t know. I almost wish she would just tell me, so I can get the skin ripped off...but Titan, every day she doesn’t say no, it almost makes me think I had a chance!_

Amity sighed, blushing again. Perhaps it would be best to just get it over with. Moving slowly, like a prisoner to their petrification, she reached out to take Luz’s hand.

“Luz, I have something to tell you...it’s about who, it’s about who...”

_Titan, this was hard!_

“It’s OK Amity, take your time,” Luz said in reply, covering Amity’s hand with her own. 

The two locked eyes again. Amity felt like she was about to fall into Luz’s deep brown eyes and get lost forever in them. Her mouth curled up in a gentle smile. “I want to tell you...”

There was a sudden and very loud squeal.

Amity looked up sharply. Willow was standing there, smiling like a fool, her head tilted as she clasped her hands together. 

The two of them let go of each other, Luz propelling herself away like she had been burned.

Watching her discomfort made Amity’s stomach sour, and she tasted bile as she blinked back tears. Luz clearly did not return her interest, not if she acted like that at the thought of...Amity wouldn’t finish the sentence. If she did, she would blame Luz, and she could never do that.

It was all Amity’s thought after all. She wasn’t good enough to be loved.

Luz stared down at herself, silent.

Willow at least had the decency to blush. “Oh, Titan, I am so sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt...”

“Hey, why don’t I make breakfast!” Luz jumped up, springing away into the kitchen too quickly.

Amity began to sniffle, very very quietly.

Willow came down next to her and gave her a hug. It felt...good, but it wasn’t Luz. It wasn’t as warm, it didn’t have her smell...but Amity let it comfort her all the same. It was probably the closest she would come to comfort again.

**Luz**

Luz was grateful for Willow’s interruption, or she would have said something she regretted. Confessing would have forced Amity to reject her, and if that happened Luz would just break down sobbing. 

So she went and cooked, keeping her mind on the dozen things she had to do to get her recipe just right. Making mangu was a little tricky, given that there was nothing quite like plantains and she needed to use a knife to get the eggs open. And ignore the screaming, of course.

The time it took helped her calm down, let her reassure herself that she hadn’t been too much, hadn’t come on too strongly. As she cooked, she noticed some paper on the kitchen table and decided she would take a look. Once she had everything ready, anyway.

She glanced at the paper, and her breath caught in her throat. Amity...had drawn her, the way she looked like at the Grudgby match, swatting a ball down into a goal. In the drawing she looked radiant, graceful, she looked like someone people wanted to be friends with.

There was another piece under it, a few words peeking out. Luz turned away, if Amity was covering it was probably private...it was wrong to read it...she would just see what was already peeking out.

“I know she won’t feel the same way...”

Something in those words made Luz jerk away.

“Hey, I made breakfast!” Luz called into the living room.

She could hear Willow and Amity talking together, Gus and Eda stumbling down the stairs, and King popped his head up again.

“You interrupted my very important na - business! The King of Demons demands tribute!”

Luz smiled. “How about mangu?”

He nodded. “Acceptable!” he declared.

Amity laughed, the sound like music to Luz’s round ears. She glanced at the witch, and then hurriedly lowered her gaze. Not only was Amity looking back with some sort of strange emotion in her own eyes...but she had been crying. Not a lot, just a little. Luz must have been too much...

**Amity**

Crutch in one hand, she forced herself to walk over to Luz, although it was the hardest thing she had ever done. She felt so vulnerable, all her normal armor was discarded, and she was going to initiate the hug. She had no idea if the human would accept it, especially with the way she had jerked away before, but she looked like she needed it...and Amity was determined to do what Luz needed. She owed Luz that much.

Carefully, she leaned against the girl and wrapped one arm around her, inhaling Luz’s scent and closing her eyes, taking comfort in every second she wasn’t pushed away. And slowly, gradually Luz hugged her back, moving like Amity was made out of glass.

“Lo siento, lo siento,” Luz murmured, and Amity simply held her tighter...and silently plotted to destroy whatever made Luz seem so miserable.

Neither noticed as the rest sat down at the table, watching. Eda and King exchanged hurried whispers. “If it’s within a week, I win!” King declared a little too loudly.

Amity looked up. “Win what?” she asked.

“And what’s the bet? I want in!” Luz added with a goofball grin. 

Amity found a smile appearing on her face as she studied the human.

King and Eda exchanged a slightly uncomfortable look, as Willow let her head fall to the table. Again, neither noticed.

“Err...” King said, looking beseechingly around the room. No help came.


	6. Chapter 6

**Luz**

Luz lay back on the picnic blanket. High above her, a thousand stars streaked across the sky, forming an intricate glyph, and then exploding outwards like fireworks. The falling embers fell slowly, forming the shape of Amity’s face. 

“Do you like it? Is it too much?” she asked, a whole flight of butterflies flapping in her stomach and causing a corresponding storm in her chest and throat.

She turned her head a bare inch, and her nose brushed against Amity’s cheek as the witch stared up in awe, tears forming in her eyes. Suddenly, Amity embraced her, crushingly tight, raining kisses down upon her forehead.

“I love it Luz!” she declared, smiling and laughing and kissing.

“And I love you,” she added, almost too quietly for Luz to hear. 

Almost.

Luz hugged her back, kissing Amity’s forehead, and then her nose, and then her lips. “I love you too, Amity Blight, more than anything.”

The moment could not get any more perfect. It was everything she had wanted...

And suddenly there was an enormous giraffe standing over them. 

“Run Luz!” Amity shrieked. The creature cackled, its neck undulating as it lowered its head to stare at the two of them with empty eye sockets.

Luz wanted to, she wanted to so desperately. But it felt like she was moving in mud...

She sat up in bed and cracked her head on the wall.

“That was such a weird dream!” she murmured, rubbing her skull.

The sting faded quickly, and so she turned her attention to her phone - it was a little late to awaken by her normal standards, although less so than after the sleepover. A week had gone by since that horrifically awkward morning, and nearly every night Luz dreamed about what would have happened if she had just confessed. Usually, they were good, full of hugs and kisses and cuddles and watching Good Witch Azura movies and dancing in the rain. Sometimes Amity broke down crying; sometimes she ran away. But usually Luz woke up before the end, feeling warm but full of regrets.

Each time, she talked herself down. She knew exactly how her asking people out went...and she didn’t even know if Amity liked girls...wait, she did...well, Amity probably didn’t like girls who thought wearing otter suits to school dances was a good idea. She made sure to repeat that several times.

It didn’t help.

So she was resigned to being tormented by her hopeless, unrequited crush day and night, although the giraffe was new. The Boiling Isles must be getting to her.

She glanced at the time again, and stood up to get ready, making sure her new cat hoodie (it was bright green, the color of Azura’s hair) was clean. She was going to have to give Eda an extra-big hug for finding it for her and not selling it.

She took extra care getting dressed...Amity had been avoiding her these past few days, but Willow had let her know that they were both going to Lake Lacuna and Luz was invited too. She wasn’t going to miss the chance, and she wasn’t going to mess it up! She was going to apologize to Amity for making things so awkward and hope she was forgiven! It was going to go great!

She dressed, brushed her teeth twice, hugged Eda, gave King a nice long belly rub - the way he reacted to those was just too cute - and sped off to meet her friends. 

She didn’t see the tall presence lurking in the woods.

**Amity**

She had stayed up late last night, writing in her diary. It was full of apologies, ideas, revisions to her note again and again. She had drafted perhaps two hundred notes, burning them all to ash. None of them were good enough. She was too much of a coward to let Luz reject her to her face, so she was going to slip the note into her locker...if she got one look at the human’s stupidly adorable face, she would just confess.

So she tried to be subtle. She was a Blight. Blights were subtle and sneaky. Octavius VII Blight snuck through a lair of two dozen Romonauts over a period of a month, avoiding every one of their seventy-three eyes the whole time. She could do this...

It didn’t help that her notes repeatedly turned into rambling essays about her beautiful eyes and how desperately Amity wanted to be hugged and get her ears stroked by Luz, or bad poetry about her wonderful laugh and amazing heart. 

And to make matters worse, she had to avoid Boscha, who amazingly hadn’t spilled everything to her parents. Yet. It was probably helped by their distraction - some mysterious, eldritch entity had apparently appeared and the Oracle Coven was scrambling to get even so much as a glimpse of unnaturally long and skinny legs. But if Boscha told them Amity had sided against her with Willow and Luz...she didn’t know what they would do. No one would ever be stupid enough to push them that far. Not even her idiot twin siblings.

Unless your name was Amity and the most wonderful human on the Isles was involved. Apparently.

Boscha wasn’t making it easy on her, either...

She shook her head. Lack of sleep was making her groggy. Her mind was all over the place. 

Not getting to sleep in on a weekend didn’t help either. Amity yawned, then got moving, albeit slowly and reluctantly, with long lingering glances at her bed.

But she had promised Willow she would come. It would be just the two of them, just like old times. The invitation had startled her...but it was nice to be forgiven. And the lake had so many good memories.

She slipped downstairs, choosing to skip breakfast to avoid the possibility of teasing from her siblings - Luz was their favorite topic, and their “advice” made her want to scream. At least they had been careful about not doing it where their parents or the housekeepers could hear.

By instinct, she took the shortcut, weaving through the backwoods and slipping under the earth to emerge just a few feet away from the shore. Unfortunately, the gulls had begun nesting above the exit, and they swarmed upwards as she emerged. More importantly, they began to...expel on her.

“Aghhh!” Amity shrieked, trying to shield her face as the goop ran into her hair and down her shirt.

She swiped it away, cursing internally, and then she glanced up at the birds, deciding to deal with them. She moved her finger in a circle and a beam of energy shot out, blasting one out of the sky.

The rest turned around, almost simultaneously, and began to dive at her. 

She just had time to mutter “Oh Titan.”

And then things got so, so much worse.

“AMITY!” she heard a familiar, panicked voice cry out.

**Luz**

Amity was in danger! Luz had to do something. She very firmly clamped down on the thought that Amity might be impressed by her rescue, and grabbed her glyphs. She picked a fire one and hurled it at the diving flock with all her might.

Those once-weak nerd arms had been strengthened by long hours of carrying potions and grinding ingredients and hacking open trash slugs, and the fireball flew swift and true, striking in the middle of the horde of seagulls. Some fell, but more kept diving and slamming into Amity with their skull heads. 

The witchling was knocked to the ground, even as a half dozen purple limbs rose up to swat them away. More kept coming in an endless horde.

Luz could hear Amity yelping in pain. The sound made her heart ache.

“Alright you irritatingly adorable bird-skull things, it’s time to get serious!” she growled, and glyph after glyph flew from her palm. They were burned by fire, frozen in blocks of ice, and entangled in whirling vines. 

A squadron diverted to strike at her. Luz stood her ground, hurling an ice glyph at the ground. The wall rose up, and most smacked into it. Two slipped around and dove at her. 

“Hey! That hurts!” Luz exclaimed, trying to protect her head as bruises formed.

“No, my hoodie!” she cried out, as more flew above, expelling directly onto her, ruining the cloth with foul-smelling white stains.

Suddenly, she heard a shout from nearby.

_Amity!_ she thought, panicked. She would never forgive herself if she got hurt.

“GET AWAY FROM HER, YOU OVERGROWN PEBBLES!!!” The witch roared, her foot spinning on the ground. 

Nearly a hundred purple arms shot out, smashing through the flock as Amity sprinted through the remnants, hands spinning constantly, at least twenty different spells smashing into the fleeing seagulls. Luz could see so many different glyphs appear for just an instant. She itched to draw them, and to draw Amity in that moment. She looked like an avenging, green-haired, poop-stained angel...

The last few fled and Amity practically dove down, without regard for her probably still-healing leg. She was on her knees next to Luz, her eyes wide with panic.

“Luz! You’re hurt! Oh, it’s all my fault, I am so sorry!” she cried out, pulling Luz down next to her.

Luz, shocked by the sudden contact and disoriented, slipped and her feet went out from under her like a cartoon character stepping on a banana peel. Somehow, the thought, _“That always seemed unrealistic,”_ had time to go through her head.

She landed half-on Amity, who let out a grunt.

The two met each other’s gazes, and Luz found her hands wrapped around Amity’s. The moment stretched on and on, and Luz let out a little sigh. A foolish grin spread across her face.

“I guess you could say I’ve fallen for you, Blight!”

The moment after somehow was even longer than the one before, until Luz recovered enough wit to laugh. 

“HA HA HA HA! I’m such a jokester, aren’t I, huh Amity?” she said with a grimace of unendurable agony on her face.

**Amity**

She wanted to cry, she wanted to scream, she wanted to kick and rage and destroy. She did none of these things. She was a Blight.

Instead, as Luz let out laughter that grated on her soul, she bent her head and did the one good thing she could. She healed Luz of the injuries that were all Amity’s fault. And she stayed silent, locking away how much it hurt.

She deserved this. Willow had clearly realized she shouldn’t be forgiven, which was why she hadn’t shown up. She was fine with that, Amity knew she wasn’t good enough.

She just wished it didn’t hurt so much.

Suddenly, she felt herself enveloped in a gentle warmness, as Luz shifted over to hug her. Amity pressed her face into Luz’s shoulder, and to her shock the cloth turned wet. 

“Shhh, está bien, está bien,” Luz murmured, gently rubbing her back. 

Her ears perked back up - she hadn’t even realized they had drooped, and she managed to smile. She would wait a little longer before delivering the note, she decided.

The two held each other, kneeling together, for a long time. Eventually, reluctantly, and very stiffly, they rose, their hands still clasped together. 

“Despite...you know, I had a great time...” Luz said softly. 

Amity’s stomach flipped. “Me too...” she agreed.

The two exchanged one last hug, and Amity walked away, smiling, wondering if perhaps Luz might possibly like her just a little. 

**Luz**

Luz skipped home, hurling her head back and laughing as her delight surged too strongly to be contained. She hurled light glyphs into the air, watching as they drifted to make scenes from the beach. When she wasn’t giddy with joy over it, she was wondering about the glyphs she glimpsed, wondering if she could draw them.

Her good mood lasted until she saw herself in a puddle of water. “Ahh! My Azura-colored cat hoodie!”

**Amity**

Her good mood lasted until she got home, and then just a little longer. She was humming as she walked into the manor, and she perhaps didn’t guard herself as carefully as she should have. She stopped dead in the middle of the room when she saw her father sitting in his high-backed chair.

“Amity. What happened to you?” he asked, his voice very soft and very calm and very quiet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So...headcanon: Amity is a stone-cold badass. She beat Hooty black and blue, and this is the house demon who casually captured Lilith at the height of her power and beat the Emperor's Coven, the elite of the elite, so badly he had a tea party with their corpses.
> 
> Amity is strong.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First, thank you to everyone who's read this and left a Kudos or a comment, I really appreciate it. Sorry it's been a while since I posted, things got busy.
> 
> But hey, new chapter for the new year.

**Amity**

“Father, I can explain!” she cried out.

She was sweating, she knew she was, her guts were twisted in horrific knots, her blood thundered in her temples, her bile sac emptied, her heart couldn’t decide between stopping and running as fast as possible. He knew, he had to know, there was no way she was going to avoid it, she was stupid, she wasn’t good enough, she wasn’t worthy to be a Blight. 

She cringed instinctively, waiting for punishment, but he seemed to be drawing it out instead.

“Such...conduct is unbecoming of a Blight. Why did you allow your clothes to become so disheveled? What happened?”

He began to slowly rise, his head angling down disdainfully.

Despite how much trouble she was still in, Amity felt a sudden surge of relief. Now all she needed was a lie...that was good enough to fool her father...who was already clearly very suspicious of her...

Edric burst into the room, Emira two steps behind him.

“It’s my fault, Father!” he exclaimed.

Emira glanced at him. “It is...right, it’s our fault, a prank gone wrong, we are very sorry sir,” she stammered, sounding slightly confused.

Father turned to look at them. Amity sighed, all her normal functions resuming.

“Amity, you are dismissed. Go clean yourself up.”

She smiled gratefully at the twins and slipped away, wincing reflexively as she heard her father’s tone. They were already crying.

**Luz**

The hoodie had been a total loss, but Eda hadn’t minded - she was simply glad Luz was alright, and left the girl to her turmoil.

Luz’s stomach churned. Amity...the way she had looked at her...it made Luz’s knees weaken just thinking about it. More importantly, it gave Luz questions, questions she desperately needed to answer. Amity definitely was her friend...but would she have reacted so fiercely if it had been Gus under attack by those flying vermin?

She thought back to the beach. It had been like seeing a sunny sky turn into a storm in an instant...Amity wanted to protect her. Luz cherished that thought, letting it warm her. She closed her eyes, an old fanfic she had written once drifting through her head, of Azura falling to her knees before a foe and Hecate rising once more and taking her place to triumph...then she remembered how that story had ended and her cheeks quickly began to heat.

She shot to her feet, promptly tripping and landing hard on something soft.

“Gah! What gives?” King demanded indignantly, squirming out from under her. He glared down at her, eyes boiling with rage behind his skull mask. 

“Ahh! Sorry King, I was just thinking and I didn’t see you there!”

“Hmph!” he pouted, crossing his arms and turning away from her. “You are not forgiven. Abase yourself before me, subject! Abase yourself!”

Luz dropped to her knees, bowing her head silently. Sometimes it was fun to play along. After a moment, King turned back to her. 

“Mmm...your abasement is insufficient. Give me tummy rubs.”

Luz obeyed happily, even if she was paying less attention to the task than she ordinarily would have. She was uncertain, confused...but she was resolved. She would speak to Amity, she would find out who her crush was...and maybe, just maybe, it would be her. She let out a sigh at the thought, lips curving upwards.

“I am pleased with you! You were adequate!” King proclaimed, leaping to his feet and walking off.

Luz turned and began looking for Eda...she and Amity were going to have a picnic. A picnic on the beach that nothing would interrupt.

**GRDYX, or Steve if you prefer**

His fire-heart hungered, he was lost and lonely, the song of his kin ached where it had been torn away. For many times he had slumbered, mind slipping along strange paths. His kin were in the human realm, without magic or strength, prey to great beasts and terrible storms.

He hated it.

But a solution had been found, presented to him. The human was in the realm of the titans. Such things did not happen by accident. The human was in the realm of the titans.

He had hunted her dreams but not found how it came to be. The egress was unknown. He would not accept it.

If the human would not tell him, he would interrogate it. Once it had gone to the lake. It remembered those waters - cold but not frigid, and free of the hunger fish. It would provide suitable motivation.

GRDYX, or Steve, as those who lacked the purple and flexible tongue of the giraffe called him, would follow until it returned. Then the interrogation would begin.

**Amity**

She was sitting up in her room, brushing up on her abomination studies. Or trying to, anyway. Her emotions were all over the place...first the humiliation of Luz seeing her like that; then the rage and bile-burning fear of seeing her attacked; and then the delight of holding her, of being comforted by the most wonderful human in the world; then the fear from seeing her father; then confused gratitude from her twins taking the blame for once...it had been the most exhausting day she’d had since that game and sleepover.

And so, naturally, she couldn’t concentrate. After nearly an hour of reading the same page over and over again and not absorbing a single word, she collapsed on her bed with a groan. She would do unacceptably on this test if she did not get her head on straight, so she began a mental exercise her mother had taught her, running the past Blights and their great deeds through her head.

She had just gotten to Decidro Blight the Seventeenth and his defeat of the Giraffe Baron when her scroll rang. Groaning in frustration, she took it out, ready to tear a strip out of whoever dared to call her...when she saw who it was.

“Hi Willow...” she said, trying to calm down.

She at least managed not to make her friend spontaneously combust with the intensity of her gaze.

Willow took a minute to respond. Amity felt herself growing impatient...what was going on...

“Hey, I was just calling you because someone still doesn’t have a scroll.”

“Hey Amity, is this a bad time?” she heard a familiar voice ask, but it sounded strangely tentative. 

Amity began to panic.

_ My hair, my clothes, can she see the posters...oh Titan help me! _

She began to frantically comb through her hair, only to have a horrible realization: she hadn’t showered, she smelled terrible.

Then she remembered you couldn’t smell through a scroll.

“YES! I mean no, no it’s a great time, I wasn’t doing anything important AT ALL! Hahaha!” 

Luz smiled so brightly. Amity noticed a little patch of...something white on Luz’s nose, and she wanted to reach through the screen and wipe it off, even though it looked so incredibly adorable...

“I, well, the thing is, well, you see,” Luz stuttered, and Amity’s heart stopped. 

_ Is this it? Is this where she explains we can’t be friends anymore, that I made things too awkward, that I wasn’t good enough... _

She heard a muffled noise from offscreen, and Luz seemed to gather her courage.

“I was thinking...we could go on a picnic tomorrow afternoon, at the lake again...but on the other side maybe...justmaybethetwoofusifthat’salright?” Luz burst out.

Amity couldn’t breathe, it was like she had gotten slammed in the chest with an abomination. Luz was...asking her to go on a picnic?

“You? Me? Alone? Together? On a picnic...” Amity’s mind flashed back to the day of the Grudgby match...

“Sweating? I don’t think we’ll be sweating...”

Amity suddenly realized she had spoken aloud. “Ahhhhahahaha, no, it’s just the connection’s bad in my room, I said it was a nice setting, you know for the picnic, the two of us are going on...if you want...”

Luz giggled, and again Amity’s chest felt like a punching sack.

“Of course I want to, I invited you...also your ears can’t stop twitching and it’s super cute...”

Amity reached up, blushing furiously, and she found it to be true. Pressing her hands to the sides of her head -  _ “Like that will help,” _ some distant part of her thought - she soldiered on as best she could.

“I...Luz, that’s...it’s a date...”

Luz blushed crimson, her eyes lowering. “I...Amity...” she hesitated as the witch cursed herself.

“I mean, uh, Luz...”

Suddenly Willow cut in.

“When are you two free?” she asked, interrupting two sets of stammering and stuttering, shocking them both in silence.

“Tomorrow afternoon?” Amity asked after a minute.

“Tomorrow afternoon.” Luz agreed.

“Do you know the lookout post? That’s where we’ll meet.”

The pair agreed, exchanged goodbyes, Luz promised she would get a scroll, and then Willow hung up.

Amity leapt up, pumping her fists as she flew through the air, practically reaching the ceiling from sheer excitement, her eyes shining.

“I’m going on a date with Luz! I’m going on a date with Luz!” she cheered.

Then a wave of horror overcame her. “I’m going on a date with Luz...I need something to wear...and how do I talk to her...flowers, would flowers be weird?”

She had no one to talk to...Boscha and Skara couldn’t know, her parents didn’t even cross her mind, and the twins would tease her for it from now until the day the Titan awoke.

She stared at herself in the mirror, then swallowed and decided to face the mockery. She had some leverage on them if it got too bad.

She glanced at the abomination notes, but she knew she didn’t really need to study them again and in any case it would be impossible. She braced herself for the teasing and strode through the cavernous hall.

Ancestral trophies lined it, along with portraits of many Blights, living or dead. Amity always hated looking at them and seeing the obvious difference between them and her, and she marched forth without turning her head.

She passed her father’s office, her parents’ bedroom, and her mother’s study without incident, and knocked on the door to the twins’ room. It slid open seemingly of its own will and she stepped inside.

The two of them were sitting uncomfortably on their beds at the opposite end of the room, their eyes puffy and red.

“Hey...is this a bad time..” she asked.

Edric glanced up and cracked a grin. “We always have time for you, Mittens.”

Amity flushed as Emira lay back, kicking off her shoes. “Yeah, does our sweet little sister need some romance advice?”

She braced herself. “Yes.”

The room was silent.

“You finally asked Luz out? Congratulations Amity!” the two said as one, and before she could move she was wrapped in two embraces.

“Wha, no, lemmego, she asked me out, stop, guys, I need help,” Amity protested, more from habit than anything else.

Eventually, the two obliged.

“Well, either way I am happy for you. Luz has brought a smile to your face pretty much since she got here, and you two are adorable together!”

Edric glanced at his twin. “We better go have another talk with Boscha.”

Amity was suddenly very confused. “I...why did you talk with Boscha?”

“To make sure she didn’t try and tell our parents about you and Luz. We cornered her and had a shovel talk with her.”

Emira had a very nasty smirk as she spoke. “That means we told her that if she tried to hurt you, they would need a shovel to find her.” 

Amity wore what could be technically a smile. “That’s...nice...”

“Oh, you want fashion advice...I can help...Edric, go outside, we are going to need to try on some clothes...”


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope everyone's ok.

**Willow**

Luz looked so nervous, but a huge smile lit up her face for just an instant. She turned to Willow, barely remaining standing. “She said yes, she said yes, what am I going to do Willow? Ohhh, I knew I shouldn’t have done this!”

She collapsed onto her knees, hurling her head back and lifting her arms up towards the ceiling. “Nooooo! I’m going to mess this up so badly!”

Dad knocked on the door. “Everyone alright in there?” he asked, sounding slightly concerned, “No one’s having an allergic reaction again or anything?”

Willow let out a sigh as her hand rose to meet her face. “That was one time, Dad, you and Pops can stop talking about it. And yes, Luz is just being a drama empress.”

Luz finished shouting and stood back up. “I am not being a drama empress, it’s just Amity is going to think I’m such a weirdo and I won’t even be able to get a straight answer and she’ll never want to talk to me again...”

Willow, with an incredible effort of will, refrained from shaking her friend or conjuring up a branch of hive-causing (on humans, apparently) thistleberries. 

“That’s not going to happen. Did you see how red she got when you asked her to the lake?”

Luz stubbornly shook her head. “That could have been because she had a bad time last time! Or maybe she was in the shower!”

“Luz, she was dressed.”

“I’ve gone into the shower clothed, sometimes...when I had a really bad day and Mami wasn’t around...”

Luz gasped in horror. “What if today ends up being a really bad day, I mean we got attacked by those seagull things, that would ruin anyone’s day, and our clothes were all messed up...why did I suggest we go back to the lake, oh no this is going to be a disaster!”

Before she could collapse onto the floor for the fourth time, Willow grabbed her wrists. “Luz, this is going to go fine. The seagulls don’t go on the side you’ll be visiting, Gus is getting your picnic meal together, the weather is as clear as can be, and you already have an outfit picked out. I mean, what else can you do? As long as nothing ridiculous like a giraffe attacking happens, everything will go off without a hitch!”

Luz did not seem reassured. She gaped for several seconds...”That’s a possibility? I need to learn anti-giraffe magic!”

Willow got the feeling this was going to take far longer than it really should...

**Gus**

He was having so much fun! Luz had told him all about how humans did picnics, and the concept of having a special blanket to sit on. It seemed like such a simple fix to the thing which had always made picnics on the Isles uncomfortable. And fortunately, Eda had been willing to allow him to browse her stockpiles for an example of one. It had been the first thing he had gone looking for, and finally, he had found a suitable specimen: white with green stripes, large enough for two witches to sit on with a little space in between.

And he had to make sure they had good food too. Sand-witches were another really neat human thing Luz had told him about, although why they were called that remained...unclear. With Eda’s help, he made a dozen, using different combinations of meat and sauce for each, wrapping them individually before dropping them in the specially made picnic basket. 

Amity and Luz were going to have such a good time! Nothing was going to go wrong!

**Luz**

Her stomach ached, her palms sweated, her temples thundered. She could barely stand. But at the same time, she had never felt happier, even when she had danced - danced! - with Amity. They were going on a sort-of date, and Amity knew it was a sort-of date but had agreed to go with Luz anyway!

She had been very careful with how she had gotten ready, taking full advantage of Willow and Eda, and she inspected herself thoroughly in the mirror, brushing away a few imaginary specks of dust.

Her hair had been carefully gelled, and Willow had slipped a flower into it above her ear. Eda had put some makeup on her, so subtly that Luz couldn’t quite make out where it was, but the effect was clear: her eyes stood out more, her lips popped just a little...she would have to give Eda the biggest hug ever, later, when doing so wouldn’t smudge the witch’s hard work.

She wore beige slacks and a light blue blouse that left her arms bare. And to top it all off, digging through Eda’s stuff had yielded a dozen different bracelets in eye-catching colors that decorated her wrists.

She heard Hooty’s familiar squawk of pain and rushed downstairs, grabbing the picnic basket and blanket Gus had so kindly gotten for her before rushing to the door. It slid open, Hooty whining, and the world stood still.

Amity was standing there, her hair down, wearing a deep green dress. Luz swallowed hard, blinked repeatedly, tried to speak, croaked instead. Amity blushed and lowered her gaze. “Hi, Luz...”

Finally, Luz managed to recover enough to speak. “Te ves hermosa,” she said.

Amity cocked her head, seeming confused for some reason. Luz gestured to all of her. “¡Eres magnifica! ¡Eres la chica más hermosa que...”

Luz stopped and listened to herself, and then blushed. “Amity, I’m sorry, it’s just you look so amazing that when I saw you my brain kind of short-circuited...”

The witch smiled, relieved, and giggled a little. “Thank you, you don’t look so bad yourself...” and Luz could barely hear her mumble “and it sounded really nice, even if I didn’t understand it.”

Luz grinned. Everything was going so much better than she had feared, Amity hadn’t run away screaming or revealed that she didn’t actually like Luz and it had all been a big joke, so it was going better than both of her previous dates.

“Why don’t I teach you a few words while we walk down to the lake?” she suggested, and then, feeling bold, she grabbed Amity’s hand and tugged her forwards.

She had taken Amity by the hand a few times before, but this time she felt impossibly giddy. She started to say something, but her mouth was so dry, and then she started gazing at Amity, who blushed.

“Luz...you were going to teach me...” she said, glancing down then meeting Luz’s eyes, the two of them walking forwards, faces turned towards each other, until Luz walked into a tree.

“Oh, Titan, I am so sorry!” Amity cried out, dropping Luz’s hand and gently but firmly grabbing her head, examining it. “Does it hurt? I don’t see any bleeding or swelling...”

Luz felt her cheeks heating as she lifted up her free hand to grab at Amity’s wrists.

“Wha, no, I’m fine, I get worse than this waking up!” Luz protested, and Amity seemed to relent, dropping her hands from Luz’s head, her fingers brushing Luz’s cheeks on the way down.

Luz inhaled at the gentle touch. “It seems like you’ve done that sort of thing before...” she commented, trying to distract herself from how good it felt.

Amity gave her a half-smile, which Luz decided was the most adorable expression ever. “Someone had to take care of Ed and Em when one of their ideas went badly...”

Luz nodded, her head bobbing. “Right, cool!” she said, guessing at what Amity hadn’t mentioned...about why it was her, and not her parents doing it.

“So...Spanish, you wanted to learn it.”

“What’s Spanish?”

“It’s the language I was using, humans have a ton of them, and they usually sound really different from each other...”

The two of them began walking again, hand in hand once more. Luz pointed at things and told her what their names were in Spanish, and Amity tried to say the unfamiliar words back. She managed to successfully roll her Rs on the fourth attempt, making Luz cheer with excitement.

And so the two of them spent their walk, any potential awkwardness smothered under Luz’s joy of teaching and Amity’s of learning.

Neither saw what watched them from the trees: the long-necked thing that could smell their mutual affection...

**Amity**

She couldn’t think of a time when she had felt happier, she couldn’t think of a better way to spend the rest of her life than walking through the woods, hearing Luz speak that liquid language and teach it to Amity, to see her face light up every time Amity got a word right. Her heart was pounding in her chest, making her bile sack ache. Her ears were waggling back and forth in a way that would get her grounded for a year if her parents saw it with anyone and broadcast to anyone who saw her just how much she loved Luz. And as the two of them walked, in the background of her thoughts, was a constant refrain of the things she had scribbled into the margins of her diary: Mrs. Amity Blight-Noceda, Mrs. Amity Noceda-Blight, Mrs. Amity Noceda Blight...

It almost felt bad when they reached the beach and Luz let go of her hand to lay down the blanket (it was such a clever trick) and the basket, before making a sweeping bow. “For you, my lady!” the adorable human proclaimed, and Amity’s cheeks were almost certainly tomato red as she tried to sit down gracefully. It ended up being more like a collapse.

“Gr-gr-gracias, mi...” she tried frantically to think of the last word, but it flitted away from her. 

“Luz,” she finished lamely.

Luz dropped down beside her, sitting cross-legged, and  _ her foot was touching Amity’s knee! _

“Anything for you, Amity,” Luz said warmly, and Amity bit back an urge to grab the human and hug her and never, ever let go.

Luz picked up the basket and put it in front of the two of them, opening the lid and pulling out a small pile of things wrapped in shiny foil.

“It looks like Gus wrote down what each was, but his handwriting is terrible...” 

The adorable human leaned in, squinting, and Amity found herself leaning forwards a little, not to look at the sandwich, but because the look of intense concentration on Luz’s face was so incredibly amazing. Amity found herself wishing she could draw it, or take a picture on something her parents couldn’t look through. Instead, she tried to carve every detail of the scene into her memory, from the warm breeze that tickled the top of Luz’s hair to the little wrinkles at the corner of her eyes to the smooth skin of her fingers holding up the foil things...

“Oh, so he made us sandwiches, that’s neat!”

Luz turned, and Amity suddenly found her face far closer to Luz’s than she meant and she hastily pulled back, but took a fleeting look at Luz’s mouth and wondered what it would be like to kiss her.

Then she wondered if Luz could smell her breath, and frantically tried to remember if she had cleaned her teeth before leaving...

“Amity! Amity, are you ok?”

Luz’s voice broke through her rising panic about how Luz would be so disgusted by her breath she would run away and never to speak to Amity again...

‘YEP! One thousand percent okay here, ha hah, just a little lost in thought...” 

Amity smiled weakly. Fortunately, Luz seemed to believe her and nodded. “Alright, Gus made us a bunch of sandwiches...I don’t think you guys have these, it’s bread with stuff between it. Do you want a meat one, a cheese one, or a nutbutter one?”

Amity picked a nutbutter one. The creamy stuff was a favored snack for late-night study sessions and Azura marathons, she would eat it straight out of the jar sometimes.

The sandwich was incredible. There were slices of fruit that added a wonderful hint of sweetness to the sandwich. Amity devoured it. Luz watched her eat, smiling a little, eyes sparkling.

“You want more, Blight?” she asked, and Amity could only nod.

Then, a flicker of unnatural movement at the edge of the forest caught her eye. She let out a gasp of horror.

**Luz**

Amity seemed frozen by...something. She looked terrified, even more so than when they had been nearly sewn into a book or when they faced down Grom. 

“Amity?” Luz asked nervously, turning around very slowly.

She saw a giraffe standing, towering over the trees, its head cocked to one side like it was contemplating something.

Then its neck rippled like it was made of liquid, the animal’s head darted forward, and it’s head seemed to split into four sections, a long purple tongue sliding out as the monster screamed.

It moved impossibly fast, so fast that it left a blur behind, and before she could do something its tongue had wrapped around Amity and it was in the lake, the water seemingly repelled by its bulk.

Amity was dangling helplessly by her ankles, making spell circle after spell circle that fizzled out uselessly. The giraffe had its gaze locked with Luz. She saw not a hint of pity or remorse in its dark eyes as it began to slowly lower Amity. Enormous serpents rose up from the water, their fanged mouths gaping.

“No...” Luz whispered.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, it's been a while. Sorry about that. I do plan on continuing this, I've just been tired a lot lately.

**Luz**

Amity struggled helplessly in the giraffe’s mouth. The monster’s eyes were locked on hers, cold as winter. _Things_ flickered in them, but Luz ignored that. “You put her back, right this instant!” she roared, a sudden hot spike of anger running through her. How dare this thing interrupt them! How dare it ruin their date that had been going amazingly! But she couldn’t risk casting a spell at it, it might drop Amity… So she could do nothing more than glare futilely at the terrible beast.

It spoke without moving its mouth at all. “Human. Give this gate. Take this home. Or witchling swims.”

Luz covered her ears, wincing. Its voice was almost painfully high-pitched, driving into her ears like a chisel. She glared back at it. “Sure, I’ll take you home, if you put Amity back, you stupid long horse!”

It shook its head ponderously, making Amity sway. One of the serpents leaped for her. Luz started to cry out, but the witch saw, and a circle appeared...and then fizzled out uselessly, only a thin film of purple matter appearing and dropping into the water.

The snake’s fangs bit deep into her ankle before she kicked it off.

“No. Give gate.”

Luz wasn’t listening. She wasn’t seeing much either, other than red. _I thought that was just a metaphor_ , some distant part of her nattered, but Luz’s mind was elsewhere.

The giraffe was still talking, something about things changing, and Amity’s mouth opened. Luz moved, her hands reaching into her pockets to pull out a pair of glyphs: one ice, and one plant. The ice one slammed down into the water, and an enormous slide sprung up, going from the shore to just below Amity’s feet, freezing the snakes midleap. Meanwhile, enormous thorned vines materialized, coiling around the legs of the beast. Amity seized the opportunity and punched it in the throat.

**Amity**

Amity was going much, much faster than seemed safe or sane, both physically and mentally. As she sped down the ice-slide, her mind was awhirl. Giraffes were supposed to be just myths, long-banished by the Emperor. How had one gotten back...was a question for later. Rather more important was Luz. She had looked absolutely devastated when Amity was taken, and then when she had cast those glyphs...something about her reminded Amity of the duel between their mentors at the Covention.

It was more than a lot terrifying, and more than a little exhilarating to see Luz like that. 

Rather more terrifying was her impending death when she collided with the ground. She closed her eyes, concentrating on memories of Luz. The sheer joy in her face as she taught Amity “Spenish”. The brightness in her eyes when she showed Amity the light glyph. The warmth of her skin as she carried Amity. For a long moment, she felt the same warmth, along with the sensation of flying.

_So this is what dying is like…_

Then she heard a loud “Ooof!” and felt something soft under her. 

After a long moment, she opened her eyes, coming face to face with Luz, who was smiling broadly up at her. “Hey, cutie!” Luz said with forced cheer, her eyes very wide. 

Frustratingly, Amity’s ears began to twitch as her cheeks turned tomato red. “Hi...” she mumbled, before recovering something resembling composure. As much as she could while being within kissing distance of her incredibly adorable...Luz wasn’t actually her girlfriend yet, she reminded herself, and in any case, they had more important things to worry about.

“Luz! You shouldn’t have caught me like that! You could have gotten hurt...how did you do that anyway?’

Luz just giggled a little, then she looked over her shoulder. “Let’s have this talk later. And somewhere very far away.”

She picked up Amity, scooping her up in her arms again, ignoring Amity’s protests that her legs weren't that badly hurt, and they began to run.

Amity glanced behind them to see the giraffe devouring the vines to break free. “The Emperor’s Coven will be here soon, they’ll take care of it,” Amity said, with more confidence than she felt.

“If that thing’s tougher than Hooty, the Emperor’s Coven is going to have a rough time.” Luz huffed.

“The bird tube?”

“His name is Hooty! But yeah.”

“It’s not that tough!” Amity remembered the rush of glee that had swept through her as the house demon’s eye gave way beneath her fist… right, that was a non-issue right now.

Luz didn’t respond, seemingly focused on running instead. They heard a lot of shouting and shrieking and spells being cast, and what sounded like the cry of a griffon, and then the giraffe roared in pain.

Amity twisted in Luz’s arms, seeing the horrible monster covered in thousands of spiders as magic flashed and flared around it.

It took two steps forwards and then vanished. 

Amity blinked, but it was still gone.

_Had it gone invisible?_

But it appeared to have vanished. The water was still around where it had been, the spiders were falling, the witches around it weren’t fighting anymore, but were instead watching, confused and wary.

**Luz**

Amity was a lot heavier than she looked. Not that Luz was ever going to say that, her mami hadn’t raised someone impolite. So after what felt like several hours, she stopped and began to gently lower Amity to the ground, her chest heaving.

“Are you ok, Ami?” she asked, then she cringed internally. She had no idea how Amity felt about pet names...

The witch blushed furiously and smiled up at Luz. “My fearless champion once again,” she said, grabbing Luz’s hand, and now she was pretty sure she was as red as Amity. “And yes, I’m not hurt. _Someone_ broke my fall.”

Amity rose back up, seemingly trying to loom over Luz. “You don’t always need to sacrifice for me, Luz. It’s wonderful how selfless you are, but you shouldn’t put yourself in danger for me. I’m a Blight. We can handle ourselves.”

Luz glanced down, then noticed that Amity was wearing heels. “Are you actually taller than me?” she wondered out loud.

Amity’s hand met her face. “Is that really what you are thinking about right now? We just got attacked by a giraffe! And, and, and....” she seemed to flail.

Luz shrugged. “Thinking about serious things is hard when I’m next to such a pretty girl! But also at least twenty different things have tried to kill me since I came to the Boiling Isles, I don’t know how this is supposed to be different.”

Amity opened her mouth, shut it, smiled, opened her mouth again, raised a finger, then exhaled hard. “Come on, let’s walk back to the Owl House and I’ll explain. Also, you are not taller than me!”

The two bickered lightly as they walked back, taking comfort in the silly little argument and hearing all the things they didn’t quite say. It kept their mood high despite the lingering terror, and it lasted until they made it back and told Eda what happened.

The old witch cursed, slammed her fist against the counter hard enough that her hand broke off, and then she sat them down.

“Kids, if there’s a giraffe loose we need to talk.”

**Amity**

Giraffes had always been something of a guilty pleasure of hers. They were...not secret, exactly, but certainly not something talked about in polite company, even less so than were humans or wild witches. But she had read what she could in the publicly available books, and listened eagerly when she heard speculation.

And her parents were always happy to talk about them at home. Stories about the ancient Blights were one of the few things given freely to her, and the battles they had with the many horrors who once ruled the Isles before the coming of the Emperor was a favorite for both her and her mother. So she knew more than most. 

But she had learned by now that Eda almost certainly knew even more. 

So she sat obediently at the table, her hand in Luz’s, and she waited as the Owl Lady pulled herself a tall glass of apple blood.

She gave the two of them a measured glance, slipped her hand back on, and poured them a pair of much smaller glasses.

“If you two survived a giraffe, you are old enough for this!” she declared.

Amity shared a tentative look with Luz, and then flushed deeply, as thoughts of just how adorable Luz was seeped into her head, seemingly just because. 

_I thought this was going to get better at some point!_

Eda looked between the two of them. “The two of you are old enough for some supervised apple blood. But you are not old enough for hanging out with Luz’s door closed, is that understood?”

Luz let out a horrified squeak, her face turning bright red. “Eda!” she said with a shocked yelp.

Amity would have loved for the giraffe to come back, it would have been a nice distraction. However, there was no such blessed escape. Instead, Eda sat down and took a long drink.

“But it’s time to be serious. Giraffes are extremely dangerous. They are resistant to nearly all forms of magic, they are unpredictable, and they do not like witches in the slightest. Just being around one is a risk. And worst of all, they have their own unique connection to the Titan.”

Amity gasped at that last revelation. “Like the Emperor?”

Eda nodded. “And you know how powerful that makes him. All giraffes are like that. That’s why they were banished - they have no connection to the Titan now.”

Luz nodded. “I’ve seen lots of videos of giraffes at home. They’re just animals. Weird ones, but still just animals. This one...” she shuddered.

Amity reached over to take Luz’s hand (somehow not dying of excitement while doing so), trying to comfort her. “It’s alright Luz, we’re fine.”

“But I think it wants us, Amity! Or at least the gate Eda has! And it’s willing to go after you to get what it wants!”

Luz sounded...she sounded like when she had fled Grom. Not just scared, but terrified down to her bile. Amity found herself moving before she even realized it, her arms sweeping up around Luz and pulling her close, her neck stretching so she could rest her chin on Luz’s shoulder.

“You don’t need to worry, Luz. I won’t let anything happen, I promise,” she said as Eda reached over, almost tentatively, and began to ruffle her apprentice’s hair affectionately.

“Yeah, you don’t have to be scared. You’ve got the most powerful witch on the Boiling Isles on your side, and the only one Hooty is scared of!”

Luz seemed to relax under Amity’s embrace, her body loosening. “You going soft on me, Blight?” she murmured, and Amity grinned. 

“In your dreams, Noceda.”

Reluctantly, she let go, and reluctantly Luz pulled away.

“So, we’re going to need to find a way to deal with this thing. And until that’s done, neither of you should be alone. Stay in public places, stay with friends, keep other witches around as much as possible,” Eda instructed her charges.

The two locked eyes and nodded grimly.

“And for Titan’s sake, keep an eye on each other!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter contains your friendly reminder that Amity is Hotty's natural predator. Also, this chapter felt a lot longer than it was.


End file.
